LAY-AWAY!
Yes…the original “30 days same as cash” is BACK and in its original form, there is no super small print, high fees or interest. Our local K-mart reintroduced Law-away plans last year and it has been quite successful. For any one reading this younger than 30, a Layaway plan is simply involves going to the store, determining what you desire to purchase for gifts and take it to the Customer Service Counter, where it is totaled and you agree to make weekly (or biweekly) payments. When it is paid off, you receive your merchandise. The beautiful thing about Layaways is that if you have a small home, there is no worrying about hiding the present till Christmas—the store will do it for you! It’s a win-win situation!
Focus on Quality not Quantity.
This Christmas chose one or two higher quality gifts rather than several inexpensive gifts. This is beneficial for a variety of reasons. First, you will save money and secondly, have you ever noticed how quickly the cheap/inexpensive toys last? In our home, usually by Christmas night, the cheap toys were broke, cried over and tossed out! This will save $$ as well as your child’s tears and stress for Mom and Dad.
3 Wiseman Gifts
One Christmas when our teens were younger, we were extremely strapped for cash. However, this has become one of our more special Christmas memories. It was the year of the “3 Wise men Gifts”.
The “3 Wise men Gifts” was based loosely upon the Christmas idea that 3 wise men came to Jesus and presented the gifts of Frankincense, Gold and Myrrh.
For our family this translated into 3 gifts—one practical (clothing), one Spiritual and one fun (game, toy) gift. We were greatly blessed celebrating a simple Christmas together—Joy abounded and our family had loads of fun sharing the why this specific gift was chosen as one of the 3.
Advent Gift
Once again, loosely based on the idea of Advent studies, the general idea is that each child receives one small gift throughout the Advent season ($2-3) and then one larger gift on Christmas day. For us, we found this idea to work as well as the others, because it was hard to find gifts under $3 that weren’t junk. We then did the same principles but on a “12 days of Christmas” schedule (12 days leading up to Christmas) and loosely based it on the song (as budget allowed). This was fun although it can quickly become more expensive if not kept on a strict budget (at least for me as I LOVE to shop for gifts…Gifts is my love language and honestly, I love to give them as much as I like to receive them!)
Recycled Gifts
Finally, don’t be afraid of using Goodwill and Mission Mart type stores. Frequently, they will receive new or nearly new items and sell them at a fraction of the new price. One of my best Christmas buys for my daughter when she was 4. I found a Little Tykes kitchen at a Children’s Consignment shop for $10. It was in great condition, and had everything but the coffee pot. I contacted Little Tykes and purchased one for $5 with shipping. She was thrilled!
Do you have any favorite Christmas celebrating on budget ideas? Would love to hear them!
